There is no doubt that President Obama takes command with a number of seemingly insurmountable challenges. Our role on the world stage has been diminished. Our reputation has been tarnished. Our economy is in turmoil. The first order of business is to restore confidence that not only Americans have, but the world has, in the American experiment.
It is a testament to his abilities, this grace under pressure, that he exhibits when not only all of us, but all of them, focus their attention on him. There will be some missteps and false starts on the way however I am confident that he is the best man for the job.
Each President has a defining moment. That one image that is etched in your memory that you recall long after their time is up. For me, some of these images are scores of Germans standing on top of a cement wall that comes crashing down. A president pointing his finger an echoing a statement, ‘I did not have sexual relations with that woman.’ Perhaps it is a hapless man exasperated over hostages taken by Iran, or it is a smallish man standing on a pile of rubble that was the World Trade Center with a bull horn and his arm around a firefighter.
For me, it is the likeness of the last image that makes me wonder what President Obama’s image will be. My image is of him standing on top of a massive pile of rubble that is the remnants of what was once our financial system. He has a bull horn in his hand and is making a call to arms – for each of us Americans to take accountability for our actions and to stop looking for hand outs. His is call to re-ignite that entrepreneurial spirit that defines our nation. His is a call to break down the barriers between people t o allow them to join hands and be successful together.
George W. Bush had a remarkable opportunity that was dutifully squandered. He had the attention of the world for a split second in time. He had us entranced with is macho American bravado when he declared, ‘The people that knocked these buildings down will hear you’.
From that point, there was a surge in global support from people around the world that has not been seen in recent history. However we did the best we could to alienate almost everyone around us. The constitution became an inconvenience on the way to administering justice. He perpetually surrounded himself with people that were from his father’s failed administration. For eight years there were no fresh ideas, no new blood and an eerie isolationism that was punctuated with statements like, ‘You are either for us, or against us. We pressed headlong into a seemingly pre-meditated war against a country that was not our enemy, led by a man that was dangerous but not a part of the clear and present danger presented by the terrorist enemy that attacked us. We created an outpost in Cuba to circumvent all kinds of domestic law and got very good at techniques of torture that violated international law. We had lost our way, and with it, the support of friends and allies around the world.
I am anxious for the 20th of January to come. It will be a day of renewal. It will be a day of renewed hope. It will be a day that America returns to business- the business of being that greatest country on earth. We will speak softly and carry a big stick. We will return to being focused, competitive, charitable, and most of all kind. We’ll return to a day when the stature, the respect, and the power of world is again restored to the American presidency. He’ll lead by example and be a man that all children can look up to. He’ll restore the romantic image of Camelot to a an office in dire need of restoration.
He’ll be our president, for our generation. He’ll ask a lot from us and we will not waver in answering that call.
It is a testament to his abilities, this grace under pressure, that he exhibits when not only all of us, but all of them, focus their attention on him. There will be some missteps and false starts on the way however I am confident that he is the best man for the job.
Each President has a defining moment. That one image that is etched in your memory that you recall long after their time is up. For me, some of these images are scores of Germans standing on top of a cement wall that comes crashing down. A president pointing his finger an echoing a statement, ‘I did not have sexual relations with that woman.’ Perhaps it is a hapless man exasperated over hostages taken by Iran, or it is a smallish man standing on a pile of rubble that was the World Trade Center with a bull horn and his arm around a firefighter.
For me, it is the likeness of the last image that makes me wonder what President Obama’s image will be. My image is of him standing on top of a massive pile of rubble that is the remnants of what was once our financial system. He has a bull horn in his hand and is making a call to arms – for each of us Americans to take accountability for our actions and to stop looking for hand outs. His is call to re-ignite that entrepreneurial spirit that defines our nation. His is a call to break down the barriers between people t o allow them to join hands and be successful together.
George W. Bush had a remarkable opportunity that was dutifully squandered. He had the attention of the world for a split second in time. He had us entranced with is macho American bravado when he declared, ‘The people that knocked these buildings down will hear you’.
From that point, there was a surge in global support from people around the world that has not been seen in recent history. However we did the best we could to alienate almost everyone around us. The constitution became an inconvenience on the way to administering justice. He perpetually surrounded himself with people that were from his father’s failed administration. For eight years there were no fresh ideas, no new blood and an eerie isolationism that was punctuated with statements like, ‘You are either for us, or against us. We pressed headlong into a seemingly pre-meditated war against a country that was not our enemy, led by a man that was dangerous but not a part of the clear and present danger presented by the terrorist enemy that attacked us. We created an outpost in Cuba to circumvent all kinds of domestic law and got very good at techniques of torture that violated international law. We had lost our way, and with it, the support of friends and allies around the world.
I am anxious for the 20th of January to come. It will be a day of renewal. It will be a day of renewed hope. It will be a day that America returns to business- the business of being that greatest country on earth. We will speak softly and carry a big stick. We will return to being focused, competitive, charitable, and most of all kind. We’ll return to a day when the stature, the respect, and the power of world is again restored to the American presidency. He’ll lead by example and be a man that all children can look up to. He’ll restore the romantic image of Camelot to a an office in dire need of restoration.
He’ll be our president, for our generation. He’ll ask a lot from us and we will not waver in answering that call.
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